Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Recommended for you

WRC Finland: Ogier in command after torrential rain shakes up order

WRC
Rally Finland
WRC Finland: Ogier in command after torrential rain shakes up order

New commercial rights holder announced for the WRC and ERC in landmark deal

WRC
Rally Finland
New commercial rights holder announced for the WRC and ERC in landmark deal

The principles Stella holds dear at McLaren to make the F1 team tick

Feature
Formula 1
The principles Stella holds dear at McLaren to make the F1 team tick

The challenge Haas faces in trying to meet F1 budget cap: "Fighting with both hands tied"

Formula 1
Hungarian GP
The challenge Haas faces in trying to meet F1 budget cap: "Fighting with both hands tied"

Top 10 McLaren F1 cars ranked: MCL39, M23, MP4/4 and more

Feature
Formula 1
Top 10 McLaren F1 cars ranked: MCL39, M23, MP4/4 and more

WRC Rally Finland: Ogier claims lead after incident-packed morning

WRC
Rally Finland
WRC Rally Finland: Ogier claims lead after incident-packed morning

How Pirelli will deal with F1’s unexpected return to Sepang

Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
How Pirelli will deal with F1’s unexpected return to Sepang

Thailand to host MotoGP 2027 season opener

MotoGP
Thailand to host MotoGP 2027 season opener

Red Bull plans KERS upgrade for Turkey

Red Bull Racing plans an upgrade of its KERS for the Turkish Grand Prix, as it hopes that the changes will prevent a repeat of the issues that have dogged the team in the early races of the campaign

Both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have encountered problems with their KERS at every race held so far this season - with the issues almost certainly playing a part in preventing Vettel extending his winning streak in China last weekend.

And although the team still has a number of issues to overcome before it can be confident it has got on top of the KERS problems, team principal Christian Horner says that he is optimistic about the work being done.

"We have got another upgrade of KERS coming for Turkey," he explained. "It is getting better and better as we get more understanding of the system and more mileage on it.

"So I am confident that the niggly issues that we have with it, we have fixes in the pipeline."

Red Bull Racing's KERS problems are believed to be related to cooling issues of its in-house battery system - which has been packaged extremely tightly so as not to compromise the car's aerodynamics.

The team is also not as experienced in the running of KERS as other outfits, having not raced the device in 2009 and only fitting it to this year's car for the latter stages of winter testing.

Webber said after the race in China that it was important the team got a grip on the KERS issues as soon as possible.

"It's a key component in Formula 1 these days, mate, so it's completely obvious that we want to address it as soon as possible," he said. "McLaren have a huge amount of experience with Mercedes from 2009 and they're doing a good job of it, and that's not an excuse, it means that we have to work harder, we have to work as cleverly as we can and as fast as we can.

"Fortunately, we now have a bit of a break, so it will be a clear focus for us in terms of durability and consistency and also understanding the system. It's not only a performance thing but it's also incredibly disrupting in the garage for... my car was rebuilt about four times this weekend. It makes it so much harder for them in terms of making mistakes, when you open a car up and put it back together all the time, it's not easy.

"We have awesome guys on the case. As I say, with the limited experience we have, that's the way it is and we're still going okay in the Constructors' Championship, I think, so let's regroup, get to Turkey and work hard on it."

Previous article Different approach pays off for Mercedes
Next article McLaren pushing for qualifying pace

Top Comments

Latest news